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150+ Places You Can Get Your Credit Scores for Free

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If you haven’t checked your credit scores, you can’t use the excuse that you don’t want to pay to see them. There are more than 150 websites, banks and credit unions offering free credit scores. Some offer them to the general public, while others show them only to customers. With that many options, there’s no reason not to know where your credit stands.

Before You Check Your Scores…

Keep in mind there are three major consumer credit reporting agencies, and the services below usually offer scores based on the data provided from one (sometimes two) bureaus. (Note that when it comes to business credit scores, Nav is the only source currently providing free business and personal credit scores.)

Additionally, there are a variety of different credit scoring models used to produce credit scores. Websites that display VantageScore credit scores will generally provide the latest model, currently VantageScore 3.0. But among those showing FICO scores there are several different FICO scores that may be shown. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the fundamentals of good credit and ensure you’re making an apples to apples comparison if you opt to track more than one credit score. If a credit score from one site shows you have a 650 and and a different site shows you have a 700, it doesn’t mean one is necessarily wrong — the models may have different scales, be based on data from different credit bureaus (which may have different information about you) or could weigh certain credit scoring factors differently.

Keep your credit lender-ready. Nav is the ONLY source for both personal and business credit scores and provides tools to build better business credit. Get Started For Free.

Can You Even Get Your Score?

In order to get your credit score you may be required to answer security questions to verify your identity and to make sure you are getting your own credit score, and not someone else’s. You may not be able to instantly receive your score if you fail that process (called “authentication.”) In addition, you will likely not be able to get your score if you:

Are not a U.S. citizen or resident of the U.S. or its territories with a Social Security number

Are under 18 years of age

Have no credit history (credit accounts that report to credit bureaus)

Are not the primary account holder (in the case of scores provided to customers by credit card companies or financial institutions). Some financial institutions limit free scores to those with individual accounts.

Where You Can Get Free Credit Scores: The Definitive List

We’ve listed the companies in alphabetical order so you can quickly scan to see if your financial institution or website of choice is listed here. We are not paid to include any of these companies on our list, we just wanted to create a definitive reference list and handy tool to help you get access to your credit scores.

In some cases, it can be difficult to determine details of these offers, including which credit report was used to supply the data, and which credit score(s) these sources show. Where available, we’ve shared that information here.

*First Bankcard works with some 250 banking and co-brand partners that may extend this program to their customers. Examples include New York Life Insurance Company, Scheels All Sports, Overstock.com and Sheetz, among others.

Many Credit Unions Offer Free Credit Scores

In partnership with FICO’s Open Access program, a number of credit unions (along with several of the banks listed above) offer free FICO scores. In addition, a number of credit unions have partnered with SavvyMoney or Credit Sense by Fiserv (which uses technology from SavvyMoney) to provide credit scores. These show VantageScore scores based on TransUnion data.

In this list, credit unions partnering with SavvyMoney are noted by two asterisks (**). Credit unions partnering with CreditSense by Fiserv are noted by three asterisks (***) The others show FICO credit scores to customers.

Note that these free scores may be available only to certain customers such as online banking customers, or to credit cardholders.

Advantage One Federal Credit Union***

Affinity Federal Credit Union

Alliance Credit Union***

Altonized Community Federal Credit Union***

American Airlines Credit Union**

America First Credit Union

American Heritage Credit Union

Anoka Hennepin Credit Union**

Baxter Credit Union (BCU)**

Capstone Federal Credit Union***

Carolina Collegiate Federal Credit Union***

CentralAlliance Credit Union***

Central Credit Union of Florida

Chevron Federal Credit Union

CODE Credit Union***

Community Credit Union

Community Credit Union Florida

Community First Credit Union**

Community Service Credit Union***

CommunityWorks Federal Credit Union**

Complex Community Federal Credit Union***

Conservation Employees Credit Union***

Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union

Credit Union 1***

Credit Union Advantage (CU Advantage)***

Digital Federal Credit Union

Dupaco Community Credit Union**

DuPont Community Credit Union

Elements Financial

Elevations Credit Union

Fairfax County Federal Credit Union

Farmer’s Insurance Federal Credit Union

Firefighters First Credit Union

Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union

Fortera Credit Union

Forum Credit Union

Freedom Credit Union

General Electric Credit Union

Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union

Harvard University Employees Credit Union

HFS Federal Credit Union***

Houston Metropolitan Federal Credit Union***

Interra Credit Union

Jackson River Community Credit Union***

Kemba Indianapolis Credit Union***

Keypoint Credit Union

KBR Heritage Federal Credit Union***

Langley Federal Credit Union

Listerhill Credit Union

Los Angeles Police Credit Union

Maps Credit Union

Mass Mutual Federal Credit Union

Maui County Federal Credit Union***

McCoy Federal Credit Union***

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

Midcoast Federal Credit Union**

Mill City Credit Union***

Montgomery County EFCU

Mountain America Credit Union

Mutual Security Credit Union

NASA Federal Credit Union

NatCo Credit Union

Nationstar Mortgage

Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union

Oklahoma Federal Credit Union***

One Nevada Credit Union**

Oswego County Federal Credit Union***

PCM Credit Union***

PenFed Credit Union

Pioneer Federal Credit Union

Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union

Premier America Credit Union

PSECU

USF Federal Credit Union

Redstone Federal Credit Union

Robins Financial Credit Union

Royal Credit Union

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union**

Sea West Coast Guard Federal Credit Union***

Sharonview Federal Credit Union

Space City Credit Union***

Space Coast Credit Union

Spokane Teachers Credit Union**

St. Helen’s Community Credit Union**

Stanford Federal Credit Union

Star One Credit Union

STAR USA Federal Credit Union***

State Department Federal Credit Union**

State Employees’ Credit Union

Strip Steel Community Federal Credit Union***

Susquehanna Valley Federal Credit Union***

T&I Credit Union***

Target Corporation Credit Union**

Technology Credit Union**

Town and Country Federal Credit Union**

TrueCore Federal Credit Union

TruMark Financial

Tulsa Federal Credit Union**

United Healthcare Group**

Whatcom Educational Credit Union

Financial Counseling Programs Offering Free Scores

Here’s a list of counseling agencies that provide free FICO scores to clients:

Ariva.org

Center for Changing Lives

Economic Opportunity by Janus

Compass Working Capital

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, Inc.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Savannah

Consumer Credit of Des Moines

Financial Pathways of the Piedmont

Navicore Solutions

Guidewell Financial Solutions

Housing and Credit Counseling Inc.

Justine Petersen

La Casa de Esperanza, Inc.

Oakland Planning and Development Corporation

Operation Hope

Capital Good Fund

TIHDI.org

Wings for Women and Families

Women’s Employment Network

Want to Dig Deeper?

When you get your credit scores you may find some information confusing. For example:

My credit scores are different, why?

You don’t have a single credit score; you have many. The actual number can vary depending on which credit reporting agency provided the information used to create the score, the score that was used (FICO 9 or VantageScore 3.0 for example) and even the date the credit score was calculated. Always pay attention to which credit reporting agency data is used and understand the credit score range (300 – 850, for example or 0-100 in the case of some business credit scores). Beyond that, though, don’t get too hung up on a particular number. Instead, focus on the factors affecting your scores, and see if there are areas where you may be able to do better.

Which credit score is best to check?

There is no single “best” source of credit scores, or one credit score that’s the best either. Lenders may use different credit scores, and may work with one or more credit bureaus to purchase those scores. Generally it’s a good idea to make sure your credit reports are correct and up-to-date by checking with all three major consumer credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). If you are a small business owner, you’ll also want to monitor your business credit with agencies such as Experian and Dun & Bradstreet.

How often do my credit scores change?

Information in credit reports can change anytime a lender provides new data to the credit reporting agencies. (Many update information on a monthly basis but the actual date can vary.) In addition, credit reports and scores are created when someone requests them. So the credit score you see today could be different than one you see next week or next month if the information that goes into that report has changed. That’s why it’s a good idea to monitor your credit on a regular basis, at least monthly.

Lenders can choose from a variety of credit scores, including business and/or personal credit scores, and they can choose which credit reporting agency they get them from. Lenders don’t usually reveal this information, though a few are transparent about it. However, there are a number of forums (see below) where applicants discuss their experiences applying for credit.

These forums discuss free credit scores, including more details about individual scoring models. Individuals may also share which credit scores were used when they applied for credit: CreditBoards, MyFICO Forums and Reddit.

Your Turn!

Did we miss a free credit score offer or has one changed since we first published this post? How do you monitor your credit? Feel free to share your comments below. We will continue to update this story with new offers as we hear about them.

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About Author

Gerri serves as Education Director for Nav, which provides business owners with simple tools to build business credit and access to lending options based on their credit scores and needs. She develops educational programs and content for small business owners, and works on advocacy initiatives. A prolific writer, her articles have been featured on popular websites such as Yahoo!, MSN Money, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, NBCNews.com, Forbes, The Today Show website and many others.

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